Summer of '16: Dinero's Dilemma

by Charae Lewis

  “Oow shit! Aimee I’ma fuck your pregnant ass up!” Dinero barked still trying to dodge Asia’s fists.

  “Fuck you! I'm about to get my taser for your cheating ass,” Aimee stated and wobbled back to the car.

  Dinero roughly grabbed Asia and restrained her on the car. He was out of breath as he tried to pin her arms down. Asia was fighting him like she was a UFC fighter.

  “Calm your crazy ass down!” Dinero gritted.

  “No, fuck you! You lucky I didn’t stab your hoe ass!” Asia yelled with tears streaming down her face.

  “Stop acting like a fuckin’ bitch. I should kill your ass for hitting me in my mouth.”

  Asia gathered saliva in her mouth and spit in Dinero’s face. Suddenly, his face contorted into a frown as he wiped her saliva from his cheek.

  “Bitch, did you just spit on me?” Dinero slapped Asia across her face and then yoked her up.

  Aimee walked over to Dinero and tased him on his back. Dinero’s body shook from the electric volts as he dropped to the ground. Aimee walked over and helped Asia off of the car. Camara was still beating Cadence’s ass where Paris was recording the entire scene.

  “That’s enough, Cam. I think she’s learned her lesson,” Paris said with laughter in her voice.

  Camara reluctantly let Cadence go where she laid on the ground. Dinero was finally over his electric fit and slowly stood.

  “I am finished! I’m done! You’ve disrespected me for the last time! I can’t believe you’ve been with this bitch when I was the one suffering in the hospital from a miscarriage,” Asia turned to Cadence. “You can have him, bitch! He’s your fucking problem now!”

  “What you mean you had a miscarriage?” Dinero asked, hoping she was just speaking out of anger.

  “Yeah, that’s right. I was pregnant with your baby, but I lost it. I'm realizing that it was a blessing in disguise ‘cause Lord knows I didn’t want to be tied to someone like you for the rest of my life!” Asia bawled.

  “Damn, baby, I ain't know,” Dinero said apologetically as he stepped toward her.

  “No,” Asia put her hand up. “You stay the fuck away from me.” She walked back to the truck with Aimee alongside her.

  Paris and Camara shook their heads at Dinero as they made their way back to the truck. He watched Aimee drive out the parking lot. He had really dropped the ball with Asia. A part of him was actually scared that he may have lost her for good. The pain written on her face told him that there was no coming back from not being there when she’d miscarried. Dinero then thought about the baby they’d lost. He wasn’t ready for children, but knowing that his child didn’t make it left him feeling heartsick. He looked over at Cadence, who had a black eye and busted lip and shook his head. Dinero should’ve never doubled back to her. He knew nothing good would come out of their reunion.

  “Let’s go so I can drop you off.”

  ****

  After dropping Cadence off at home, Dinero rushed to the house that he and Asia shared. He was hoping that she was there so he could at least talk to her. He needed to learn more about her miscarriage and apologize for not being there for her. He wondered if any of his family knew about the loss of their child. Even if they had known, they’d had no way of reaching out to him since his phone had been powered off.

  When he arrived home, he noticed that all of the lights were off. Dinero knew right away that Asia wasn’t there. He took out his cell phone and tried calling her, but his call went straight to the voicemail. He needed someone to talk to, and since it was Friday night, Dinero decided to go to Big’s bar. Once he arrived at the bar, he noticed that security was posted near the back. He tried to get passed the big burly guard but was stopped.

  “Aye, let me through.” Dinero requested.

  “This area is closed off.”

  Dinero looked and saw that Fabian was seated next to his brothers. He instantly understood why the guard was shielding the area.

  “Man, those are my brothers. Let me through,” Dinero huffed.

  The guard looked back at Big where he signaled to let Dinero through. The bouncer stepped to the side and allowed him access. Dinero walked over to the table and began to give them all handshakes.

  “Man, where your bitch ass been?” Kiyan asked.

  “I've been laying low,” Dinero responded and took a seat.

  “Everybody been looking for you, especially Asia,” Big told him.

  Dinero shook his head at the mention of Asia. He had temporarily forgotten about their fight and her revelation about her recent pregnancy.

  “You good, bro?” Keece asked, picking up on his strange behavior.

  Dinero shook his head. “Nah, I'm not. Me and Asia just got into it real bad.”

  “Like how bad?” Fabian asked.

  “Like fist fighting. She caught me with Cadence.”

  Keece chuckled. “How did that happen?”

  “I don’t know.” Dinero shrugged. “I'm walking out of the hotel with Cadence and all of a sudden, Asia run up on my ass.”

  “Was she by herself?” Big asked.

  “You know she wasn’t. She had everybody with her even your wife, but she was in the truck,” Dinero said to Fabian.

  “Damn, I'm surprised you didn’t get jumped,” Kiyan joked.

  “I damn near did. Camara was beating Cadence’s ass while Asia was trying to whoop mine. Big, I’ma fuck Aimee’s fat ass up when I see her. She was hitting me with rocks and shit. Then her ass tased the fuck outta me,” Dinero snapped.

  They all began to laugh hysterically while Dinero sat trying not to crack a smile.

  “Nigga, you touch my girl, and I’m gon’ put a hot one in that ass,” Big threatened.

  “So that’s who you’ve been with all of this time? Cadence? Man, you trippin’,’” Case scoffed.

  “To be honest, I really didn’t care since Asia fucked that bitch, Sheek. Shit, all I wanted was some pussy from Cadence anyway. But now that Asia caught me with her, I feel guilty as fuck.”

  “You know Sheek was lying, right? He never had sex with Asia,” Fabian revealed.

  “How do you know?” Dinero questioned.

  “Because he told me. I knew she didn’t fuck with dude. They weren’t even around each other that much when we were in L.A.,” Fabian replied.

  Dinero suddenly began to feel sick. He’d caused all of this drama in his marriage for nothing. Regret began to consume his mind as he thought about all of the bullshit he had done to Asia. He should’ve believed her when she’d denied having an affair with Sheek. But because he was stubborn and hardheaded, he’d decided to shut down and not communicate with her.

  “Don’t tell me that, Fabian,” Dinero groaned and put his head down.

  “Dude needs his ass beat for real. He was really trying to fuck up y’all marriage,” Kiyan shot.

  “So you think it’s over between you and Asia?” Keece asked Dinero.

  Dinero lifted his head from the table. “I hope not. She had a miscarriage, and I didn’t even know about it.”

  “Damn,” Big stressed. “When did it happen?”

  Dinero shrugged. “I don’t know. I really don’t think Asia is fucking with me after this. Shit, I don’t even blame her.”

  “Just let her cool off,” Case offered.

  “Nigga, he’s been missing for almost a month, got caught with the side bitch, and wasn’t there for her miscarriage. She ain't fucking with him no more,” Kiyan argued.

  “She might. He just gotta get on his Keith Sweat type shit,” Big said, being hopeful.

  Dinero tuned his brothers out and tried to figure out a way to get Asia back. He knew he couldn’t buy his way back into her good graces. He was going to have to show her how sorry he truly was. Before he began to beg Asia for her forgiveness, he had to take care of Sheek. He was the one that had caused this snowball and effect, and Dinero swore that he was going to pay for his lies.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Although you let that girl bea
t your ass, baby girl you are in there!” Carlotta exclaimed.

  Cadence sat at her mother’s house with an ice pack glued to her eye. She had filled her in on the entire scene that happened at the hotel. Camara had really done a number on her that left her with a busted lip and ruptured blood vessel with a swollen eye. Cadence couldn’t believe how excited her mother was about her and Dinero finally hanging out together. Her mother was joyful while she sat there looking like Martin from the episode when he fought Tommy “Hitman” Hearns.

  “I don’t know why you're geeked up. I haven’t heard from Dinero since that night, and that was three days ago,” Cadence scoffed.

  “And who fault is that?” Carlotta quipped.

  “Not mine. I've been calling him like crazy, and he hasn’t returned any of my calls.”

  Carlotta rolled her eyes at her daughter’s attitude. “Well when he doesn’t answer, you're supposed to go to his house, Cadence!”

  “I don’t know why I come to you expecting to get some motherly comfort when all you think about is a come up,” Cadence shot.

  “Now you listen to me,” Carlotta said with narrowed eyes. “Don’t come over here talkin’ slick because you’ll have a matching black eye. Fuck around with me if you want to.”

  “I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but you shouldn’t encourage me to mess up someone’s marriage. I don’t care how much money he has.”

  “Aww girl, bye. Now your ass got a guilty conscious after you got your ass whooped. You didn’t have to do what I said, but guess what? You did it, and it’s not because I made you, it’s because you wanted to.”

  Cadence didn’t have a comeback, so she grabbed her purse and car keys, and left the house. She was so tired of her mother being selfish. Listening to Carlotta was the reason why she’d gotten herself into the predicament she was in.

  Since Dinero had been ignoring her, Cadence decided to stop by his car wash. She had gotten so used to spending time with him that she became blue when she wasn’t in his presence. While riding in silence, she prayed that this wouldn’t be the end for them. She just wanted another chance at love with Dinero and was willing to wait as long as she needed to ensure her spot in his life.

  ****

  Dinero walked into his car wash extremely agitated. He had been blowing Asia’s phone up for days only for him to listen to her voicemail. He’d even tried going to her social media accounts, but she had blocked him. Dinero was desperate to talk to her, but didn’t have a clue as to where she was staying. He’d called Big to see if she was there with him and Aimee but she wasn’t. Not only was he sick now that the truth had come out, but he was also worried. Knowing that Asia wasn’t staying with Aimee left him puzzled because she didn’t have much family.

  “Damn, you swear you don’t have a business to run,” Meesha shot as he walked up to the desk.

  “Right! Your ass has been gone for weeks,” Terri added.

  “Y’all better leave me the fuck alone, especially you Meesha, with your wide mouth ass,” he snapped.

  Meesha rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You need to go check those little bitches washing the cars. They’ve been stealing all of the Armor All wipes.”

  “Oh and everyone’s been calling up here for you. Asia even stopped by,” Terri said.

  “When did she come?” Dinero quizzed.

  “Maybe like two weeks ago.”

  Suddenly an idea popped into his mind. “Aye, let me see your phone, Terri.”

  “For what? I might have some naughty pictures in here,” she laughed.

  Dinero smacked his lips and frowned. “Don’t nobody wanna see them skinny ass titties you got.”

  “You're an asshole. You got five damn minutes,” Terri huffed and passed her phone to Dinero.

  Dinero walked away as he dialed Asia’s number. He was praying that she answered so he could at least explain himself. His heart began to beat at a rapid rate as the phone rang. Seconds later, he heard her sweet voice.

  “Hello?”

  “Asia, I need to talk to you.”

  “Who is this?” she asked with much attitude.

  “Who the fuck you think it is? It’s Dinero.”

  “I don’t have shit to say to you. Goodbye,” she hissed and hung up.

  “Fuck!” he gritted.

  Dinero decided to call her back but didn’t get an answer. Asia really wasn’t fucking with him, and that hurt him. He knew he had no room to be in his feelings considering all the hell he’d caused her, but he still was salty about her not trying to hear him out. He walked back to the front and cursed under his breath when he saw Cadence standing there. She looked terrible, and Dinero didn’t have time to fuck around with her since he was on a mission to get his wife back.

  “What you doing here?” he asked, getting straight to the point.

  “I stopped by since you weren’t answering your phone.”

  “If I wasn’t answering my phone then that meant I didn’t want to talk. Why did you think it was cool just to pop up if I didn’t wanna talk to you?” Dinero barked, becoming irritated with her presence.

  Cadence sighed deeply. “I just want to speak with you. I won’t take up a lot of your time.”

  Dinero huffed and then signaled for her to follow him back to his office. He sat on top of his desk while she sat in one of his chairs.

  “I wanted to know where you’ve been. You’ve been ignoring me, and I wanted to make sure that we were good.”

  “Listen, I know we’ve been hanging tough lately, but right now I'm focused on getting back with my wife.”

  “Really?” she sadly questioned.

  “Yeah, shit, if I can. I fucked up pretty bad getting caught with you. I don’t even know how she knew where I was.”

  “Well.” Cadence cleared her throat. “I actually told her.”

  Dinero shot her a menacing glare. “What the fuck you just say?”

  “I told her that we were at the hotel when she called your phone,” she timidly stated.

  Dinero jumped off the desk and stalked over to her where she quickly stood to her feet. “That phone wasn’t even turned on, so don’t give me that bullshit ass story. Did you cut my shit on and call Asia?” he gritted.

  “I… I cut it on, but she’s the one that called,” she stammered, leaving out the part about the picture she’d sent.

  With one quick motion, Dinero punched Cadence in her face. She dropped to the ground where Dinero picked her up by the collar of her shirt and yoked her up. He continued to punch her while she tried desperately to fight him off of her. He then shoved her into the wall and pinned her by the throat with his forearm.

  “Bitch, I should murk your hoe ass for that shit you did,” he snapped and then pulled out his gun.

  “I'm sorry, Dinero!” Cadence yelled hysterically when she saw his pistol.

  He ignored her pleas and pointed the gun at her head. A pool of tears flooded Cadence’s face. Dinero cared nothing about her tears since she was the reason Asia had caught them together.

  “Tell me why I shouldn’t blow your big ass head off?” he barked.

  “I'm sorry. I didn’t know she would show up,” she cried.

  Dinero cocked the gun back with a demented stare on his mug. If Meesha and Terri hadn’t been outside the office, he would've killed Cadence and then disposed of her body. He was so pissed at himself for falling into Cadence’s plan. Now he was suffering without Asia because of her deceitful ass.

  “Don’t let me catch you on the street. As a matter of fact, take your punk ass back to Mississippi or wherever the fuck you came from,” Dinero ordered then walked toward his desk.

  Cadence slowly walked over to the chair and grabbed her purse. She was sobbing uncontrollably, while Dinero was mean mugging her.

  “I ain't playing with you either, bitch. Get the fuck outta Milwaukee before you and your shady ass mama have matching caskets.”

  Dinero watched Cadence scurry out of the office. He became so consumed with fury that he
swiped everything off his desk. He had no clue that it was Cadence who’d called Asia and told her to come to the hotel. Dinero felt stupid and foolish for thinking with his dick instead of his brain. He should’ve left Cadence in the past where she belonged and focused more on his marriage. Now, the union between him and Asia was on life support. A lump formed in his throat with the thought of them being over for good. He had no clue on how to make things right with Asia, but he knew he had to do something quick in order to save his marriage.

  ****

  “Are you sure about this?” Paris asked.

  Asia was seated in Paris’ office trying to get a referral for a divorce attorney. She’d thought long and hard about her decision to divorce Dinero and came to the conclusion that it needed to be done. She never thought that it would come to this after only five months of marriage. He had done too much to Asia for her to ever consider staying married to him.

  “Yes, I'm sure.”

  “Well, I can refer you to one of my colleagues. He actually handled my divorce from my first husband.”

  “You were married before?” Asia questioned with a surprised look on her face.

  Paris chuckled. “Yes girl, but only for six months. That’s a story that needs a double shot of Hennessey and maybe a blunt.”

  Asia laughed. “Damn, that’s crazy. I always thought Keece was your first marriage.”

  “No, he’s not. I always say that my first marriage was practice for my marriage with Keece,” Paris joked.

  “At least your first one lasted longer than mine.”

  “Asia, I wished things would've worked out between you and Dinero. I totally understand why you're getting a divorce, though. Dinero showed his entire ass, and I probably wouldn’t be able to stay with him either.”

  Asia took a deep breath. “You know, I knew that we’d gotten married under some drunken circumstances, but I always thought our love would outweigh any problem that came against us. I just can’t go back to him knowing that he did me the way that he did. Dinero didn’t even give me the benefit of the doubt when Sheek lied on me. That hurt me, but I was still willing to forgive him. Even after I had the miscarriage, I was broken, but I secretly wanted to make things work. Now that the truth has come out that he was with his ex, I can’t allow myself to be with him anymore. When I said that he’d disrespected me for the last time, I meant that shit.”